Eighteen more sex-related charges and 12 drug trafficking charges have been laid against a Listowel-area resident.

John Stone, 53, was first charged with sexual offences in July.

Those charges related to multiple alleged cases of sexual assault and sexual interference, all of which involved underage girls.

Monday, police announced a new slate of charges against the former police officer.

He faces seven new counts apiece of sexual assault and sexual interference, two counts apiece of invitation to sexual touching and indecent exposure to a minor, 11 charges of crystal meth trafficking and one charge of cocaine trafficking.

All the offences are alleged to have occurred in 2014 and 2015.

Perth County OPP say he was released from custody on a promise to appear in court.

His next court date is scheduled for September.

Police say they want to hear from anyone with information about these incidents or others involving Stone.

Stone was a constable with the Ontario Provincial Police based in the Peterborough area from 1985 until 1991, according to a social media profile.

(Hanover ) - A former OPP officer has been arrested for the third time in less than two months and now faces over 40 drug and sexual offence charges.

53 year old John Paul Stone was arrested at a home on 11th avenue in Hanover yesterday and charged with 2 counts of breach of a court order.

Hanover police were checking on Stone and found him using an electronic device.

He was prohibited from using the device, since being charged with numerous sexual offences, drug trafficking and firearms offences by the OPP.

Stone was first arrested July 8th by Perth county OPP and charged with 11 sexual offences alleged to have occurred in Listowel between 2012 and 2015, along with one charge of trafficking in crystal meth.

Seven of the incidents involve a person under the age of 16.

Then on August 12th, Stone was charged with 18 more sexual offences and 12 more drug offences.

Those charges include seven of sexual assault, seven acts of sexual interference with a person under 16 years of age, two charges of invitation to sexual touching under 16 years of age, and two charges of exposure to person under 16 years of age.

He also faces 11 charges under the controlled drugs and substances act of dealing crystal meth, along with one charge of trafficking in cocaine, alleged to have taken place in 2001.

Stone is appearing in Walkerton court today and will be in the Ontario Court of Justice in Listowel on September 9th.

John Paul Stone was a constable in Hastings County, east of Peterborough, from 1985 to 1991.

53 year old John Paul Stone faces over 40 drug and sexual offence charges.

A former OPP officer has been committed to stand trial in Stratford Superior Court this spring, on numerous drug and sex offences.

The preliminary hearing for 53 year old John Paul Stone lasted four days and he was ordered to stand trial at the end of the hearing on March 9th.

Stone has been arrested 3 times and faces over 40 drug and sexual offence charges.

His latest arrest was in Hanover last August 25th, where police found him using an electronic device.

He was prohibited from using the device, since being charged with numerous sexual offences, drug trafficking and firearms offences by the OPP.

The Hanover man had earlier been living in Listowel and was arrested in July by Perth County OPP on 11 sexual offences alleged to have occurred in Listowel between 2012 and 2015, along with one charge of trafficking in crystal meth.

Seven of the incidents involve a person under the age of 16.

Then on August 12th, Stone was charged with 18 more sexual offences and 12 more drug offences.

Those charges include seven of sexual assault, seven acts of sexual interference with a person under 16 years of age, two charges of invitation to sexual touching under 16 years of age, and two charges of exposure to person under 16 years of age.

He also faces 11 charges under the controlled drugs and substances act of dealing crystal meth, along with one charge of trafficking in cocaine, alleged to have taken place in 2001.

Stone will be in the May 20th assignment court in Stratford.

John Paul Stone was a constable in Hastings County, east of Peterborough, from 1985 to 1991.

A former Ontario Provincial Police officer is facing dozens of drug and sex offences following his arrest.

Perth County OPP arrested John Paul Stone, 54, on July 8.

He was charged with 11 sexual offences alleged to have occurred in Listowel between 2012 and 2015, along with one charge of trafficking in crystal meth.

Seven of the incidents involve a minor under the age of 16.

Those charges include seven of sexual assault, seven acts of sexual interference with a person under 16 years of age, two charges of invitation to sexual touching under 16 years of age, and two charges of exposure to person under 16 years of age.

Stone also faces 11 drug charges in relation to dealing crystal meth and trafficking cocaine, alleged to have taken place in 2001.

On Tuesday, Stone was arrested again and was charged with the following offences.

• Luring a person under 16 years of age by means of telecommunication x2

• Agreement or arrangement – Sexual offence against a child x7

• Procure to have illicit sexual intercourse x5

• Makes, prints, publishes or possesses for the purpose of publication any child pornography

• Imports, distributes, sells or possesses for the purpose of distribution or sale any child pornography

Stone was released following a bail hearing in Stratford but is scheduled to appear in a Listowel court on Sept. 23.

Ex-OPP officer pleads not guilty to 17 sex charges as trial set to begin in Stratford

Nearly three years after his initial arrest, the trial of a former OPP officer facing a lengthy list of drug- and sex-related charges is set to begin this week in a Stratford courtroom.

John Paul Stone, who at one point was facing over 40 charges after a pair of arrests during the summer of 2015, pleaded not guilty Monday to 17 sex charges – many involving girls under the age of 18 between 2001 and 2015. Stone, 56, pleaded not guilty to one count each of committing an indecent act and exposing himself, one count of sexual exploitation, three counts of sexual assault, seven counts of sexual interference, and four counts of invitation to sexual touching.

The former Listowel resident did, however, plead guilty to a pair of drug-trafficking charges.

From there most of the day was spent selecting the jury for what’s expected to be a four-week trial. By mid-afternoon a 12-person jury and two alternates were agreed upon by provincial Crown attorney Noelle Brady and defence lawyer Margaret Osadet.

The selections included a salesman, housekeeper, roofing company administrator, factory worker, linesman, construction company owner, software designer, and several retirees. The majority were from Stratford along with four from St. Marys and two from Milverton.

Several potential jurors from Listowel or other North Perth communities such as Atwood and Gowanstown were excused due to personally knowing Stone or a complainant or witness.

A publication ban is in place protecting the identity of all complainants and witnesses along with any information that would help identify them.

Superior Court Justice Ian F. Leach will give the jury some instructions Tuesday afternoon and the trial is expected to begin Wednesday.

STRATFORD — In an abrupt courtroom twist Thursday, a former OPP officer facing numerous sex charges involving girls pleaded guilty to two charges just as a four-week trial was to begin.

But, in an unusual turn, a hearing expected to last two weeks is unfolding because, the man’s lawyer said outside court, the Crown doesn’t believe the guilty admissions are the full story.

John Paul Stone pleaded not guilty to 17 sex charges as jury selection began earlier this week. But he changed his mind and entered guilty pleas to a reduced set of charges — one count each of sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching involving two victims.

The other 15 charges were dismissed by the Crown. Stone, 56, already pleaded guilty to two charges of trafficking methamphetamine.

“He did things that he’s prepared to admit to and he changed his mind at the last moment because since he was first charged he’s actually gone through trauma counselling for the first time in his life and he wanted to take responsibility for what he’s done,” Stone’s lawyer, Margaret Osadet, said outside court.

“I’m proud of him.”

Osadet said that Stone, a former Listowel resident, was “habitually abused” and “probably raped 700 times” between the ages of nine and 15. Osadet said her client, speaking to police about the abuse during an investigation in 2012, “opened up that wound” and soon after he became addicted to meth.

Even though Justice Ian F. Leach dismissed the jury as they were preparing for a month-long trial, testimony continued later Thursday in the rare hearing expected to last two weeks.

“They (the Crown) believe there’s more to it than he’s prepared to admit,” Osadet said of her client. “So now we’re litigating whether or not the Crown can prove what they believe occurred versus what Mr. Stone says happened.”

Both complainants and several of their peers are testifying.

Court heard from one witness Thursday afternoon, who testified she first met Stone during the summer of 2014 when she was 13 years old and became addicted to meth after receiving the drug from him.

She alleged during one of her drug-related visits with Stone he touched her “butt cheek” with his hand, which caused her to become frightened and flee the scene.

“I was just scared, upset,” she said.

But she struggled to recall many specific details of her encounters with Stone during cross-examination.

A publication ban protects the identity of all complainants and witnesses, along with any information that could identify them.

The Crown and defence will continue calling witnesses and presenting evidence that will affect Stone’s sentence over the next two weeks.

Osadet said she will ask for a sentence of no more than two years less a day behind bars.

“It doesn’t mean I’ll be asking for two years less a day, but it would allow Mr. Stone to be admitted to a hospital to continue his path to healing,” she said.

Stone started receiving trauma counselling after he was first arrested and charged back in 2015, Osadet said. Stone was arrested and charged three times — twice in 2015 and once the following year. He initially faced more than 40 drug- and sex-related charges, including sexual assault, luring, indecent exposure and sexual interference. The sex offences are alleged to have occurred between 2012 and 2015.

The Crown is expected to ask for five to seven years in prison, Osadet said.

Assistant Crown attorney Noelle Brady wouldn’t comment when asked outside court what sentence she will recommend for Stone. Asked if she was surprised by his last-minute guilty plea, she replied: “It’s evolved” and added “things are fluid.”

STRATFORD — An ex-cop allegedly performed a sexual act on a minor while asking a second one to watch in March 2014, a Stratford court heard Monday as one of the complainants against the former OPP officer took the stand to testify.

On a second occasion that same year, John Paul Stone also allegedly asked the witness and a friend to “drop their pants” and pleasure him in exchange for drugs, the complainant said.

The shocking testimony came as a two-week hearing to help determine the severity of a sentence for Stone entered its third day.

Stone, 56, pleaded guilty last week to one count each of sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching involving two victims, as opposed to standing trial and facing 17 sex charges. He had also already pleaded guilty to two charges of trafficking methamphetamine.

Answering questions from federal Crown prosecutor Frances Brennan, the witness, whose identity is protected under a publication ban, said she and a friend went to a house in March 2014 where Stone was smoking meth with some people they knew and were asked to do meth with them.

Though she didn’t smoke the drug, the witness testified she consumed it orally because she felt pressured by Stone and others in the house. That was the first time she had tried the drug and quickly became addicted to it.

“I was hooked right away,” she said.

At the request of someone in the house that day, the witness said she and her friend went to a basement bedroom where Stone was.

Once there, she testified Stone closed and locked the door and asked them to kiss each other. He then asked the two teens if one of them would “sit on his face,” which her friend did, and then asked the witness to stay in the room and watch while he masturbated and performed oral sex on her friend, the witness testified.

“(Stone) would grab my arm if I tried to look away,” she said. “I wasn’t comfortable. I was scared.”

After that incident, Stone gave the girls some marijuana and meth and asked them if they knew other girls who would agree to sexual favours in exchange for drugs, the witness testified.

The second time the witness met with Stone, her friend had agreed by texts with him they would exchange a tablet and a camera for more meth “so nothing like the first time would happen again,” the witness said.

But the exchange didn’t go as planned either, the witness added.

The witness testified she and her friend let Stone into her friend’s house but, at one point, he grabbed her by her waist and made her sit on his lap. He then asked them to drop their pants, again masturbated in front of them and tried to touch her inappropriately, the witness said.

Though they would interact with Stone on several more occasions, they never paid for the drugs Stone gave them, the witness testified.

In one of those occasions, she also admitted they told Stone they could get other girls for him but they needed the drug first, though she said it was a lie they had other girls. That time he simply left the drug outside their house and she picked it up, the witness testified.

Testimony continues Tuesday when Stone’s lawyer, Margaret Osadet, will have the opportunity to cross-examine the witness.

The sentencing hearing for John Paul Stone hit a snag when it resumed Tuesday morning when a witness who was supposed to return for cross-examination went missing.

The sentencing hearing for John Paul Stone hit a snag when it resumed Tuesday morning when a witness who was supposed to return for cross-examination went missing.

The witness, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, was examined by the Crown Friday afternoon, while questions from defence lawyer Margaret Osadet were delayed until after the long weekend.

But when the parties returned to Stratford court Tuesday, the witness was nowhere to be found. Police spent most of the day unsuccessfully tracking his whereabouts.

It caused some confusion about how to move forward with the two-week hearing that will determine the sentence Stone will receive for pleading guilty to drug-trafficking and sex charges involving underage girls.

Despite the guilty pleas earlier this month, lawyers for both sides are presenting evidence during the hearing – it began May 10 after the trial jury was dismissed – that will affect the severity of the 56-year-old Listowel resident’s sentence. The most recent witness testified Friday that Stone allegedly tried to have sex with him during a drug exchange in a shed on his property when he was a 15-year-old Grade 9 student.

Because he was unavailable for cross-examination – the Crown pointed out the witness has been “transient of late” – the judge and the lawyers had a lengthy discussion about the legal ramifications and how to proceed. Leach was concerned it would be unfair to Stone if the witness resurfaced later this week after the defence began calling its witnesses.

After being unable to find the witness by mid-afternoon, co-Crown attorney Frances Brennan told the judge to exclude his testimony.

“Regrettably, your honour, the Crowns are jointly asking evidence you heard from (the witness) in the Gardiner hearing be disregarded,” she said.

Leach said he will not rely on his testimony in relation to sentencing. However, an agreed statement of facts involving the witness will stand.

Meanwhile, Osadet called a 51-year-old man who’s known Stone since they were children to the stand. A convicted drug dealer, the man testified he overheard four people discussing a plan in 2014 to set Stone up.

“They were going to send girls over there to get him charged with sexual assault,” the man said.

When Osadet asked why these people wanted to set up Stone, who spent five years as an OPP officer in the 1980s, the witness replied: “They didn’t want him around town anymore.”

During cross-examination, there was some confusion surrounding the timing of the witness’s previous arrests and convictions. The witness later added: “I’ve had a lot of drugs over the years; I have a bad memory,” but his ex-wife reminded him of the overheard conversation a few times.

A former OPP constable who recently pleaded guilty to two sex charges involving underage girls testified during his sentencing hearing Thursday that a police officer regularly sexually abused him while he was a youth.

John Paul Stone, a 56-year-old Listowel resident who spent five years with the OPP stationed in Madoc, Ont., in the late 1980s, told a Stratford courtroom he was abused by a cop between the ages of 10 and 16.

“The sexual abuse had to be over 700 times,” he said.

The name of the officer cannot be disclosed, though, as a publication ban protects the identities of the victims involved in that case — including Stone’s. But Stone testified that speaking to a pair of investigating officers in 2012 about the historic offences caused him to spiral out of control as he had never talked about it before, including to his ex-wife and current partner.

“It was a secret of mine for 40 years,” he said, later adding: “It made me shameful.”

Stone said rehashing those memories caused him to become addicted to crystal meth to help cope with depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts — police later arrested him under the Mental Health Act and brought him to a hospital — and post-traumatic stress disorder. Stone pleaded guilty just over two weeks ago to a pair of drug-trafficking charges involving crystal meth, but not guilty to 17 sex charges. Then he changed his mind on the eve of a month-long trial and pleaded guilty to one count each of sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching involving two victims.

The Crown dropped the other 15 sex-related charges, but the pleas cued a two-week sentencing hearing with numerous complainants and witnesses called to the stand as the two sides disagreed about several facts. Stone, the final person to testify, told court Thursday a police officer first got him drunk on beer or whisky in his apartment when he was around 10 years old and sexually assaulted him. This pattern of abuse went on regularly for six years, he said.

It was kept under wraps as Stone had a job cleaning the apartment the man lived in. Stone added he was too intimidated to say anything because the abuser was a police officer.

“I was scared to death,” Stone said.

But when a girlfriend accused Stone of being homosexual around age 16, he stopped going to the man’s apartment, which ended the abuse.

Testifying about the man caused Stone to begin to stutter occasionally and he also started struggling with certain dates. As his condition worsened, he told Superior Court Justice Ian F. Leach he had run out of his PTSD medication; the judge opted to push the rest of his testimony to September, when the hearing continues.

Even if he managed to finish answering questions from defence lawyer Margaret Osadet Thursday, cross-examination by the Crown was scheduled to take place later this fall.

Prior to having his testimony cut short, Stone said he kept his drug use a secret from his partner, but crystal meth is how he met several of the complainants and witnesses court heard from over the last two weeks.